Leaders Come Together with Updates on Health Care Transformation

Intermountain Healthcare, long committed to reducing patients’ out-of-pocket costs, is making good on its pledge albeit at a steep price, Chief Financial Officer Bert Zimmerli told a packed crowd.

Efforts to rein in costs for patients and its health plan members have narrowed Intermountain’s margin by $100 million in the past two years, Zimmerli said, adding that the health system is satisfied because “it’s the right thing to do.” One way the system helped reduce costs for patients: dropping the cost of a normal, vaginal delivery with a plan available for uninsured patients from about $6,000 to $4,150. How will the system make up for the price drop? Zimmerli said Intermountain will redouble its efforts to improve efficiencies throughout the system.

If patients are looking to spend less out of pocket on health care, they’re also looking for greater transparency on price. Northwell Health, which has offered a price estimator for some time, shared that it plans to implement a major upgrade to its platform by year-end, Modern Healthcare reported.

Under the existing system, Northwell employees call the patients’ health plan to obtain an estimate of reimbursement, which takes time. Under the updated platform, patients will be able to get price estimates on their own through the Northwell website. The system is working with the credit-reporting firm Experian to use technology that will electronically submit relevant information to a patient’s insurer to determine the patient’s out-of-pocket costs for certain procedures.